1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a publication certifying system, a viewing-access-log recording server, a publishing-access-log recording server, a digital-signature server, and an information terminal for access-to-view for use to certify that electronic data has been stored in a viewable and accessible state by a third party on a communication network, that is, the electronic data has been published to the third party on the communication network. The present invention can be widely used as a means (service) for certifying that various information (for example, product fault information, product call-back information, etc. relating to recall) from a company has been notified and laid open on a communication network, or that various technical information has been published as electronic data on a communication network.
2) Description of Related Art
It becomes general in these years that information is notified and published as electronic data on the Internet [for example, the WWW (World Wide Web)] instead of disclosing the information on a printed matter such as a paper.
More concretely, a person who desires to notify information accesses to an information providing server over the Internet from an information terminal such as a personal computer or the like, and transmits the information desired to be published on the information providing server to store the information in a state in which the information can be accessed from the outside in the information providing server. A third party can view the electronic data stored in the information providing server only by accessing to the information server over the Internet from an information terminal such as a personal computer or the like.
Meanwhile, a digital signature technique that is a combination of a public key encryption technique and a message-digest creation technique starts to be used in recent years in order to certify when electronic data has been created.
When a range of examples known in the public involves information published on the Internet in patent examination, or when a company notifies product fault information, product call-back information and the like relating to recall on the WWW, it is necessary to not only certify a date/time at which electronic data of the information has been created but also certify that the electronic data has been notified and published in a place (server) readily accessible from a third party, or certify a period in which the electronic data has been notified and published.
For instance, it is relatively easy to certify that information on magazines and the like has been published since most of all the magazines and the like are saved in the National Diet Library. On the contrary, it is difficult to certify a date/time (period) at which electronic data has been notified and published in a state in which a third party can view the electronic data on a communication network. In present, a method or system for certifying publication of electronic data on a communication network is not established, there is thus a strong demand for development of a method or system therefor.